Click the link to see the new season brochure including all concerts and chamber events at Hallé St Peter’s: https://issuu.com/thehalle/docs/spring-2022-brochure
- Major celebration of the 150th anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams
- More chamber concerts at Hallé St Peter’s following sell-out success
- Three digital concerts from thehalle.vhx.tv
- Sixteen Hallé debut artists
- Spectacular season finale – A semi-staged Madama Butterfly
- See the Hallé’s Fanfare for Care
Speaking ahead of the new season, Hallé Chief Executive David Butcher said: “Following a thrilling Autumn season when we were so moved by the tumultuous reception from audiences as the Hallé returned to live music making, we are delighted to announce our Spring 2022 season. The way our audiences responded – and the way we were able to reach so many new listeners – was a real tonic, which has emboldened us to curate a Spring season of music and artists that aim to surprise, illuminate and inspire. Large scale projects, such as a semi-staged Madama Butterfly and a complete Vaughan Williams Cycle in his 150th anniversary year, complement the intimate Chamber Music Series at the award-winning Hallé St Peter’s. We champion new talent with many debut artists and composer premieres, not least with performances from our youth orchestra and choirs drawn from across Greater Manchester. We also continue our acclaimed in-house produced Digital Season which has embraced Hallé audiences across the globe and are delighted to be working closely with our BBC Radio 3 partners who will broadcast six Hallé concerts during the season.”
Performance highlights
Sir Mark Elder opens the Hallé’s Bridgewater Hall season on 23 January with Mahler’s magnificent Third Symphony. The event marks the return to the Bridgewater Hall stage of Hallé Associate Artist Alice Coote, alongside sopranos and altos of the Hallé Choir and the Hallé Children’s Choir. Sir Mark’s next programme (26-30 January) features Debussy’s La mer, the Hallé’s recording of which won a Diapason d’Or in 2007, with Rachmaninov’s rich and Romantic Symphony No.2.
February’s highlights include Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique conducted by Maxime Pascal together with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto performed by Alena Baeva, both making Hallé debuts (3 February). Isata Kanneh-Mason returns to the Hallé on 24 February to play Clara Schumann’s all too rarely performed Piano Concerto conducted by Tianyi Lu. Tabita Berglund will conduct the UK premiere of Mette Henriette’s This Too (10 March), in a concert with Bartók’s masterpiece Concerto for Orchestra and Dvořák’s’s Cello Concerto with debut artist Jakob Koranyi.
Jennifer Higdon’s City Scape: river sings a song to trees will be conducted by Rodolfo Barráez (13–17 March) in a programme which includes Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Korngold’s Violin Concerto performed by Ning Feng, winner of the 2006 Paganini Competition and another of the orchestra’s debut artists. Lionel Bringuier conducts another Berlioz showpiece, Harold en Italie, which features violist Timothy Ridout (31 March), both making their Hallé debuts.
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Toward the Unknown Region
The Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic will once again join forces to offer a unique Mancunian tribute to one of Britain’s greatest composers. To mark the 150th anniversary of his birth, the two orchestras will work together to perform a complete cycle of Vaughan Williams’s astonishing symphonies. This rare opportunity will offer listeners the chance to experience the full breadth, diversity and originality of these very different but universally compelling works.
All concerts are listed in the brochure, and the Hallé’s contribution begins on 21 April with John Wilson conducting the Ninth and final symphony (alongside Holst’s The Planets), followed by two concerts conducted by Sir Mark Elder. The Sea Symphony and Symphony No.6 will be performed on 30 April, and on 12 May the programme will include the Symphony No.8, dedicated to Sir Mark’s illustrious predecessor ‘Glorious John’ Barbirolli.
Season Finale – Madama Butterfly
Postponed from last year, the Hallé closes its Manchester season on 28 May with a semi-staged performance of one of Puccini’s best-loved and most poignant operas, Madama Butterfly. A host of artists will make their first appearance with the Hallé, including the internationally renowned Japanese soprano Eri Nakamura in the role of Cio-Cio San. A fitting end to a remarkable season.
Chamber Music Concerts
Three sell-out Autumn chamber performances at the Hallé’s Ancoats home, Hallé St Peter’s, will be followed by three more Spring events. These include a concert curated by Hallé Principal Percussionist and composer David Hext, a programme featuring Janáček’s Mladi, and Sing to the Moon, a showcase for the Hallé Youth Choir.
Hallé Digital Concerts
Audiences around the world will be able to experience some of the Hallé’s most popular performances from thehalle.vhx.tv, featuring Elgar’s First Symphony, Walton’s Cello Concerto and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.
The Hallé’s Fanfare for Care
To honour, celebrate and thank Greater Manchester’s workers within the care sector, and the thousands of people they support and care for, the Hallé has recorded and shared a new piece celebrating their work through the Covid-19 pandemic, named Fanfare for Care. The piece was inspired by orchestra partners the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, and composed by Hallé Education Director and composer Steve Pickett. In September, the Hallé played their piece for the first time outside the Ross Place Day Centre in Ardwick to staff from across the city-region. Fifteen musicians, together with Hallé principal conductor Sir Mark Elder, performed in front of an audience of invited guests and care staff.
LINKS FOR EDITORS
Hallé Spring 2022 brochure https://issuu.com/thehalle/docs/spring-2022-brochure
Hallé main website www.halle.co.uk
Hallé latest biography www.halle.co.uk/about-us